Week 9 of the Big 12 football season has arrived, and there are plenty of questions that need answers as the conference race heads toward November.
Can Cincinnati knock off a top-10 team for the second straight week? How will BYU respond after a stunning loss to UCF? Are the Knights capable of turning their upset win into a late-season run? And is Arizona ready to prove it belongs among the Big 12’s legitimate championship contenders?
There are also major questions further down the standings, including the future of TCU head coach Sonny Dykes.
Here are five of the biggest questions facing the Big 12 in Week 9.
Can Cincinnati Pull Off Another Upset?
This past weekend, the Bearcats throttled one of the best teams in the Big 12, taking down a top-10 Texas Tech team 37-24. And while the final score may look respectable, there was nothing respectable about what Cincinnati did to Texas Tech. It was an ass-kicking the Red Raiders won’t soon forget.
Now the Bearcats have an opportunity to do it again this weekend as they host another top-10 team in Utah.
While the Utes are better than the Red Raiders, they certainly are not unbeatable. Keep in mind that Cincinnati is unbeaten at home this season, and Nippert Stadium has proven why it is one of the toughest places to play in the Big 12.
Can the Bearcats pull off another upset and rattle the Big 12 cage once again?
Will BYU Bounce Back?
There is no doubt in my mind that BYU is a better football team than Arizona State. That’s why the Cougars are more than a two-touchdown favorite to win on Saturday.
But as we all know, these games aren’t played in Vegas or on paper. They’re played on the field.
And to me, no team in college football has experienced a more emotional two-week stretch than BYU. After taking down Notre Dame two weeks ago, the Cougars fell last week to an unranked UCF team on the road.
That is one hell of a roller coaster ride, and I am curious to see what the Cougars look like this weekend.
Can UCF Win Out?
After knocking off BYU last weekend, the outlook for this UCF team has drastically changed for me.
Even with backup quarterback Keyone Jenkins, it feels like the Knights’ offense is finally starting to break out a little bit. We know their defense can hold its own, but if the offense plays like it did last week, this team could easily get to a bowl game.
In fact, when I look at UCF’s remaining schedule — Baylor, Kansas, Arizona State, Iowa State and Colorado — is there anything stopping this team from winning out and finishing 9-3?
I guess we’ll start finding out this weekend against Baylor.
Is Arizona a Legitimate Big 12 Contender?
Despite being 6-1 and ranked inside the Top 25, there are still questions about just how good Arizona is.
Up to this point, the Wildcats have played just one ranked team, BYU, and lost 28-17 on the road. They do have a big win over Cincinnati, which looks much better now, but outside of that, there isn’t much that sticks out on their résumé.
However, that could change this weekend as Arizona heads to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech.
If the Wildcats take down the Red Raiders, it will be time to start having a serious conversation about Arizona as one of the top Big 12 championship contenders.
Will This Be the End of Sonny Dykes at TCU?
I said the same thing about Dave Aranda last week: If he lost to Kansas, could that be the end? Baylor lost, and Aranda ended up getting fired.
Well, guess who plays Kansas this weekend? Sonny Dykes and TCU.
While Dykes has a better record than Aranda had, it’s clear there has been plenty of frustration among the TCU fan base.
After making an appearance in the national championship game a few years ago, Dykes is 26-19 overall since that 2022 season and 15-16 in Big 12 play. That is a pretty steep drop-off, as TCU has never really been able to capitalize on that miraculous run.
Now, I know Dykes signed a multi-year extension earlier this year, but if TCU falls to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in Big 12 play, I think the higher-ups at TCU should take a long, hard look in the mirror and decide whether they want to stick with a coach who has completely shifted his offensive focus to a pro-style system that clearly isn’t working.
